CONSUMPTION" OF FOOD IN WINTEK. 233 



much greater probability of its being properly attended to. 

 Some persons place sheds over the troughs also, to prevent snow 

 from accumulating about them, and to offer greater induce- 

 ments to the sheep to visit them in stormy weather. The 

 troughs are placed lengthwise with and under the fence (as 

 at e, in cut page 217,) or crosswise with the ends projecting 

 (as at /",/■, in same cut.) If the sheep are watered pretty 

 early in the day, the water will generally be lowered so 

 often by drinking that thick ice will not form over it, and 

 the sheep will usually keep drinking holes open. But the 

 shepherd should look to this ; and in severely cold weather he 

 should water the flock two or three times a day, (so that all 

 will be likely to drink once,) and then by withdrawing a plug 

 in the bottom of the trough, let off the water into a drain 

 underneath. 



A brook of sufficient volume and current not to freeze 

 deeply, brought near to the sheep yards, is an admirable 

 addition to a sheep farm, both in summer and winter ; and 

 when it can be had, no other mode of watering is necessary. 

 The banks at the drinking places should be so sloped that 

 there will be no difficulty in a number drinking at once, and 

 no liability of a sheep being crowded off a high bank or into 

 deep water ; and the approach to and bottom of the drinking 

 place should be thoroughly gravelled. I should, however, 

 consider such a brook bought quite too dearly, if the sheep 

 were compelled to wade through it whenever they entered or 

 left their yards — even if the water did not usually exceed 

 three or four inches in depth. Every approach to the yards, 

 crossed by a stream, requires a bridge. 



Amount of Food Consumed bt Sheep in Wintee. — 

 It is now generally estimated that, taking the average of 

 winter weather in our Northern States, American Merino and 

 grade Merino sheep kept exclusively on hay, require about 

 one pound of good hay, or its equivalent, per diem, for every 

 30 lbs. of their own live weight — to be kept in that plump 

 condition somewhat short of fatness, which is usually regarded 

 as the most desirable one for store sheep. Mr. Spooner 

 adopts the same rule in regard to the consumption of English 

 sheep. * 



Yalue of Different Foddees. — In most of the Eastern 

 and Southern counties of New York, in similar regions of 



* He says " sheep grown np take 3 1-3 per cent, of their weight in hay per day to 

 Iceep in store condition." gpooner on Sheep p. 817. 



